Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO's Dementia May Hinder Sex Trafficking Case, Lawyer Says

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries has been diagnosed with dementia, which may make it impossible for him to face trial after he was charged with leading a Hamptons sex trafficking ring.

Attorney Brian H. Bieber filed papers Dec. 23 at Central Islip federal court revealing that neuropsychologist Dr. Jacqueline Valdes evaluated Jeffries and determined that the ex-fashion executive won’t be lucid enough to defend himself in court due to the cognitive decline that dementia causes.

“There is a reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense,” Valdes is quoted as saying in the court documents.

U.S. District Judge Nusrat Choudhury previously set a deadline of Feb. 6 for the defense to file a full doctor’s report in support of a motion for a competency hearing and prosecutors have until April 8 to file a doctor’s report in response. Choudhury has not yet set a date for the hearing.

Jeffries, who ran Abercrombie & Fitch between 1992 and 2014, along with his life partner Matthew C. Smith, and associate James T. Jacobson, allegedly forced at least 15 men over a seven-year period into being part of an international sex trafficking and prostitution business involving Jeffries’s Water Mill home, prosecutors have said. All three have pleaded not guilty.

The ring, according to the indictment, “intentionally recruited heterosexual men, certain of whom were unwilling to engage in particular sex acts, including anal sex,” but nonetheless forced them to engage in such acts during the sex events.

The next court appearance for the three defendants is March 13, 2025.